brisbanetimes.com.au urban affairs reporter and blogger

A panel of experts at Brisbane's inaugural digital strategy think tank have raised concerns about the city's digital literacy standards.

The “digital complacency” prevalent throughout the business community also needs to end if the city is to realise its full potential, according to Brisbane's new chief digital officer Kieran O'Hea.

Addressing the forum, Mr O'Hea said the talents of highly wired and digital-ready employees were often overlooked by business, and many organisations held a limited view about what a digital strategy entailed.

“I want you to know that the definition of digital strategy understood by most people ... is that it consists of websites, Facebook, Twitter, and search,” he said.

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“That's true, it does, but that is a very narrow definition of digital strategy — a much broader definition of digital strategy is needed at this stage at city level and among enterprises.

“This digital complacency really needs to be addressed ... at the end of the day [if they] don't get their act together there will be no digital economy in Brisbane.

“What I'm concerned about is the research that says 25 per cent of employees go to work every day, totally digitally literate, totally wired and geared up to use their skills, and their employers either refuse to let them do so, or don't recognise the skills.”

But addressing digital literacy lacking among some pockets of Brisbane's wider population was also imperative, according to UQ Business School senior lecturer Marta Indulska.

“We really need a structured approach to improve digital literacy, particularly in SMEs [small to medium enterprises] but also among citizens,” she said.

By way of example, Ms Indulska said she often uses council internet to answer emails and shop for groceries with her iPad while walking her dog at a wi-fi enabled park.

“And one of the park regulars came up to me and said, 'what's so fascinating on that device because you're always on it', and I told him what I was doing and he didn't realise there was wi-fi in the park, as did other people who weren't aware of the infrastructure,” she said.

“And I asked him, 'well, you have an iPhone, what do you use it for?' He only uses it for SMSs and phone calls.”

Mr Burke agreed there were literacy obstacles to overcome in realising the digital strategy being developed by Mr O'Hea.

The digital agency head said the proliferation of digital devices and growth in broadband use and access, including the rollout of the National Broadband Network, meant companies and individuals had to keep up to speed with new digital potential.

“The point that I would make is that [a digital strategy] is about education, and in some instances it is about consumer education,” he said.

“If we are going to engage with our local population — and most of them are probably quite digitally literate — there is a percentage of population who aren't engaged, even if they've got a digital device, so the productivity will pass them by.

“I think strategy without an education component may perhaps be a little bit lacking.”

But the council's Mr Brant said most people were willing to take on new methods of doing business, in a corporate and personal sense, once they could identify the benefits.

“Most people are digital sponges and they're ready to soak this up,” he said, before identifying Brisbane as a place uniquely positioned to take advantage of a digital strategy thanks to its location, existing business ties with Asia and highly mobile population.

An audit of the city's current habits and standards was identified as an important first step.

“[The audit] will show to what extent [Brisbane residents and businesses] are digital and to what extent they are digitally literate,” Ms Indulska said.

Once complete, the audit would provide a “snapshot” of the city's digital landscape which Mr O'Hea said would help develop the framework for change.

He said the strategy would be developed by the end of the year, and implemented across the following 18 months, though Mr O'Hea said the impact wouldn't be felt until mid-2015.

Until then, Brisbane Marketing had created a Digital Hub which would showcase the work of the top 25 "digital champions" identified through the audit, provide a listing of digital events in the city, and host space for a new 'BrisApps' program aimed at developing and delivering new Brisbane data-driven applications.

“I'm here to grow the digital economy which will contribute to the overall growth of Brisbane's economy,” Mr O'Hea said.

“I want Brisbane, from the digital point of view, to be so impressive it's visible from space.”